Summer corn salad

Super-simple fresh salad.

Ingredients:
1 can of corn (or a few ears of fresh corn
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cucumber, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
splash of vinegar
splash of lime juice

Directions: 
Mix!

Chicken Piccata

This was one of the best things I've made lately. I love the lemon/caper/wine/butter sauce. What a combo!

 

 Ingredients:

1 pkg. boneless-skinless chicken breasts

s/p

all purpose GF flour

2 Tbsp. EVOO

1/2 cup white wine

1 clove garlic, pressed

1 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

lemon slices (from one lemon)

1 Tbsp. (or more) drained capers

1 cup fresh button mushrooms

2 Tbsp. butter

cooked linguine 

Directions:

Season chicken with salt and pepper, dredge in flour. Coat a saute pan with EVOO and heat. Saute chicken just until cooked through and browned on both sides. Remove to a covered plate. Deglaze pan with wine and add garlic. Brown garlic and allow wine to evaporate off, about 2-5 minutes.

Add chicken broth, lemon juice, capers and mushrooms, allow to cook and heat through. Return chicken to pan and cook on each side for an additional minute or two. Transfer chicken to plate. Add butter and lemon slices to sauce and heat. Pour sauce over the chicken and noodles.

Seven layer salad

Let's take a salad.....originally healthy....add mayo, bacon and cheese to it. Delish! Crisp, refreshing....and totally not healthy.

There is something about summer that makes me crave this dish. Mine actually had eight delightful layers.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 bags of shredded lettuce (or you can chop/shred your own...I opt for the convenience of the pre-shredded)
1/2 package of frozen peas
2 cups of shredded cheese
1/2 to 1 cup of mayo
6 strips of bacon, fried and crumbled
1 bunch of scallions, sliced
1 green pepper, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced

Directions:
In a 9x13 pan, layer lettuce, peas, green pepper, celery and onion. Spread mayo on top of veggies. Sprinkle cheese and bacon on top. Chill for at least two hours so everything gets good and cold!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Great movie, great food. Yummmm.

This was always my favorite food item at the State Fair....now that I am GF I'll have to make it at home. I was sad to not see any green tomatoes at the farmer's market last weekend, so on our way out I asked a vendor and he had one basked of gorgeous green tomatoes - yesssssssss.

Ingredients:
3 large, firm green tomatoes
1 cup cornmeal
2 eggs
1/2 cup cornstarch
s/p
oil (for frying, I use vegetable oil) - cover a large frying pan in oil, about 1/2 inch high
Ranch dressing, for serving

Directions:
Wash and slice tomatoes:

In three shallow dishes, place cornstarch in first, eggs in next (cracked and yokes broken) and cornmeal with s/p in last. Pat tomato slices with cornstarch:

 

Coat in egg:

 

Dredge through seasoned cornmeal:

Fry in hot oil until crispy golden brown:

 

Serve with salt and Ranch dressing!

Cuban sammie

Hmmmmm, I love Cuban sandwiches and since seeing the "Tony O's Cubans" at Target Field I haven't been able to get them out of my mind. I found an easy way to make them, totally GF!

 I  love the flavor and texture of pulled pork...but didn't want to take the time to make it myself (in this instance)...because I wanted the sammy right away. I find this product at Lunds, and it says gluten-free right on the package! Yay! Most of the pre-packaged shredded or pulled meats all have sauce...which I did not want. This was a super find!

Ingredients (for MY version:):
pulled pork
deli turkey (or ham)
pickles (I used Claussen sandwich slices)
deli or spicy mustard
mayo
GF bread (I use Udi's)
Muenster or Swiss cheese
butter

Directions:
Butter the outside of two slices of bread (for grilling). Slather the inside of one with mustard and the other with mayo. Stack the other ingredients on the inside and grill to perfection!

 

You're welcome.

Restaurant Review: P.F. Chang's

Oh.My.God. For nearly a year I've been craving Chinese food....I'd made some at home with store-bought sauces....but nothing tastes as good as take-out (where there is no effort on my part).

The P.F. Chang's GF menu has several options. We sampled three things: The chicken lettuce wraps, beef with broccoli and spicy chicken.

 Everything was delicious. For one appetizer and two entrees (all gluten-free) our bill was around $40. We got two LARGE meals out of this....so overall, it's not a bad deal. I highly recommend trying out the GF P.F. Chang's options!

You know you’re a Celiac when....

I adopted (and adapted) this list from another blogger's site (http://gluten-free-doll.blogspot.com/) and thought I'd share it.

You know you’re a Celiac when....


1. You don't remember what crackers are supposed to taste like, you actually think your GF ones are delicious.

2. You bring "special" beer to the party, and don't share.

3. You compare all of your food to "normal-people-food."

4. You know that Xanthan Gum is not for chewing.

5. You don't lick stamps or envelopes.

6. Your family and friends are afraid to cook for you.

7. You know that spelt is a distant cousin of wheat, but buckwheat is not related to wheat at all.

8. Construction workers could EASILY substitute your bread for one of their bricks.

9. You burst into tears of relief at the sight of the words "certified gluten free" stamped on the box of….anything.

10. You wept the first time you tried to make gluten free cookies.

11. You’ve "brown bagged it" to an elegant dinner engagement.

12. You've brought a suitcase full of food with you on a vacation.

13. You pace and circle the store three or four times when deciding on a new product, only to leave without it, figuring “why bother”?

14. You have actually considered using a gluten-free bagel for a hockey puck.

15. You have ever dreamed about a sandwich.

16. It drives you crazy when someone says they completely understand your diet, they did Atkins

17. You talk about endoscopies and colonoscopies like these are normal everyday occurrences.

18. Your friend invites you over for a meal, you act as though you don’t want them to go through the effort – but you are secretly terrified of the cross-contamination risk.

      19. You go to a potluck at a friend’s place; you dive into your dish first so that you get something to eat        before others contaminate it.

      20. Having solid poop is the highlight of your day.

GF flour blend

I had been using purchased "gluten-free all-purpose flour blends" for months...without luck. I was having a great deal of trouble baking...and was getting really discouraged. My mother-in-law passed along a "recipe" for Wendy Wark's GF flour mix, and a box of all the necessary ingredients to make a batch. I wasn't thrilled about the idea of blending my own flours - who wants to do that?! It wasn't hard, measure and stir in a big bowl and store in an airtight container. What was I so whiny about?!

I have used this blend a few times now (as a one-to-one substitute for regular flour) with amazing results. I couldn't be happier! I can't wait for cooler weather - so I can get back into baking. I've made several batches of cookies and banana bread - using my pre-GF recipes and they've turned out wonderfully.

If you don't have a go-to GF flour blend, try this one!

Wendy Wark's GF Flour Mix:

1 cup brown rice flour
1 1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2/3 cup tapioca starch
3/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. xanthan gum

Delicious corn cakes with steak and pan-roasted tomatoes

This recipe for corn cakes is from Real Simple (July 2011). These were FANTASTIC! Exactly what I'd been craving - carbs, hearty - yet light, great texture and flavor and something different. I had been feeling in a cooking rut. I was really tired of the same old meals, the same old flavors.

This recipe can be simple (just the corn cakes with  a jarred salsa for topping) or more labor intensive (like I made it, with all the above pictured toppings).

Ingredients for the cakes:
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil
s/p
3/4 cup GF all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 cup corn kernels (plus more for serving, if desired)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the milk, egg and 1 Tbsp. of oil.

 

Whisk together the wet ingredients, then incorporate the dry ingredients. Stir in the corn.

Heat 1 tsp. oil in a large skillet, working in batches, drop heaping 1/4 cup portions of batter into the skillet and cook until golden brown and cooked through. 

 

Serve the corn cakes with corn, sour cream, salsa, cheese, avocado, lime, cilantro, etc. 

For this meal, I served them as a side dish to skirt steak with pan-roasted tomatoes.

 

Restaurant review: Ciatti's Ristorante

Ciatti's has long been one of Luke's favorite restaurants - we go there occasionally to meet up with his mom for dinner (as it's halfway between us in St. Cloud).

Ciatti's has a GREAT gluten-free menu - I was nervous about eating there for the first time....but have now dined twice without incident. I can honestly recommend this place - the waitstaff was knowledgeable, I didn't have to point out that GF means no croutons on my salad, etc. Refreshing.

The first time we ate there I ordered the chicken Marsala:

The chicken was served with mushrooms,squash, zucchini and onions in a Marsala sauce - delish!

The second time I had the baked mostaccioli:

GF penne pasta with a red sauce with spicy Italian sausage covered with cheese and baked. Very, very good!

Enchilada hotdish

Luke refers to this dish as Mexican Lasagna....because it has layers, sauce, meat, cheese.....he has a point.

Ingredients:

24 small corn tortillas
1 pound ground beef
1 package Old El Paso taco seasoning
1/2 large white onion, diced
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 small jar of salsa verde or green enchilada sauce
4 cups of cheese (I used 2 cups pepper jack and 2 cups of colby jack)
1 can refried beans

Directions:
Brown hamburger and mix in taco seasoning according to package directions. Set aside.

In a 9x13 baking dish, layer tortillas to cover the bottom. Spread with refried beans (as thick as you'd like) and sprinkle with 1 cup of pepper jack cheese. Layer with more tortillas. Spread out the diced tomatoes and diced onion and sprinkle with cheese. Layer with more tortillas. Spread on the taco beef and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Layer with more tortillas. Pour salsa verde or enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle on the last cup of cheese.

Bake until edges of tortillas are crispy and cheese is all melted.

Product review: Udi's Hamburger Buns

 

I waited (somewhat patiently) for months for these! They were worth the wait. I had been craving a burger (a REAL burger - on a bun) for so long. These made me so happy. I hope they are around for the long run....and not a seasonal thing.....I might cry if they disappear.

Chicken fingers with honey mustard sauce

When June's issue of Food Network Magazine arrived, Luke was super excited....as the mini recipe book inside was "50 Condiments". I was already  planning to make breaded chicken, so we looked for a sauce that would compliment the meal. I generally just use ranch dressing for dipping....for everything. So we wanted to do something else. Honey mustard was the obvious choice.

Honey Mustard Ingredients:
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
s/p

Directions:
Mix all ingredients!

For the chicken, I just used my standard recipe. An egg wash, followed by breading in Glutino bread crumbs mixed with seasonings like TS Garlic Garlic and Seasoned Salt.